AOL: …In this 5-4 ruling, conservative Justice Anthony Kennedy joined the court’s four liberals in backing an independent commission approved by the state’s voters to draw the districts. The court ruled that the ballot initiative did not violate the U.S. Constitution’s requirement that state legislatures set congressional district boundaries. The ruling could pave the way […]
Money talks, especially during legislative sessions
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: …Lawmakers raising campaign cash when they make the trek to the Capitol to vote on legislation is a long-established practice. But in the month of June, when elected officials are making decisions about the state’s finances in preparation for the start of the new fiscal year on July 1, fund-raising goes into overdrive. […]
Puerto Rico’s Governor Says Island’s Debts Are ‘Not Payable’
NEW YORK TIMES: …The governor, Alejandro García Padilla, and senior members of his staff said in an interview last week that they would probably seek significant concessions from as many as all of the island’s creditors, which could include deferring some debt payments for as long as five years or extending the timetable for repayment. […]
POTUS, SCOTUS in synch?
In a stunning display, the Blacks of Charleston did not burn, did not riot. They forgave. Nobody took exception with that.
Regulating Sex
“Person A and Person B are on a date and walking down the street. Person A, feeling romantically and sexually attracted, timidly reaches out to hold B’s hand and feels a thrill as their hands touch. Person B does nothing, but six months later files a criminal complaint. Person A is guilty of ‘Criminal Sexual Contact’ under proposed Section 213.6(3)(a).”
Trying to Placate All, Iran Leader Zigs and Zags on Nuclear Talks
NEW YORK TIMES: …“Our leader deliberately takes ambiguous stances, because our enemies, including the United States, constantly shift their positions,” said Hossein Ghayyoumi, a cleric and politician who supports a nuclear deal. “In politics, details and red lines can shift from time to time.” This ambiguity serves multiple purposes. In Iran’s opaque political system, the […]
Card sharks: Wolf and legislators can all win on the budget
PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE EDITORIAL: One is the effort to reduce property taxes used to fund local school districts by increasing state sales and income taxes. There are competing versions of the tax swap, but they contain similar elements. Both a Republican plan proposed in the House and a Democratic plan in the Senate would use the […]
America’s unexpected civil rights champion
POLITICO: Throughout the long fight to pass the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Lyndon Johnson and his allies kept hoping they might find “a Southern Vandenberg,” that is, a segregationist Democrat who would switch sides and galvanize bipartisan support for the bill, in the way that Republican Sen. Arthur Vandenberg’s conversion from isolationism to internationalism at […]
Landmark Rulings See US Supreme Court Move to the Left
NEWSMAX / AFP: …”This is not about a ‘conservative’ or ‘liberal’ court,” said Lisa Linsky, a partner at the McDermott Will & Emery law firm. “This is about the highest court in the land being cognizant of the world around it and the fundamental principles and protections that are embedded in our constitution,” Linsky said. […]
Our Universities: The Outrageous Reality
In their new book, Aspiring Adults Adrift: Tentative Transitions of College Graduates, they stress that the likeliest victims of “late adolescent meandering” are students from low-income backgrounds who come out of college aimless, demoralized, and with fewer chances than their more affluent peers to recoup lost opportunities.
Ignoramus movie reviewer calls for banning of ‘Gone With The Wind’
Two things never cease to amaze us. How the public can lose all perspective and fall in line with the ‘zeitgeist’ of the moment. And how ignorant can be some movie critics
‘Amazing grace’: Obama reflects on race in powerful eulogy for slain pastor (VIDEO)
MSNBC: … CHARLESTON, South Carolina – Singing the words to “Amazing Grace” in a deep and powerful baritone, President Obama delivered an impassioned eulogy to honor the life of Rev. Clementa Pinckney and the tragedy of his fatal shooting – a historic moment from the nation’s first black president in addressing the “uncomfortable truths” about […]
Tsipras announces Greek referendum on creditors’ bailout demands
FINANCIAL TIMES: Alexis Tsipras, the Greek prime minister, has announced a national referendum on whether his country should agree to creditors’ demands that would release desperately-needed bailout aid to avoid national bankruptcy. In a televised address to the nation after a late-night meeting of his cabinet, Mr Tsipras announced that the plebiscite would be held […]
The real Trump success story
Frederick Christ “Fred” Trump (October 11, 1905 – June 25, 1999) was a prominent American builder and real estate developer. He was the father of Maryanne Trump Barry, Robert Trump, Elizabeth Trump Grau, Donald J. Trump and the late Fred Trump, Jr.